22 Giuseppe Campari
G. Campari
Alfa Romeo P2

23 L. Arcangeli /E. Materassi
Scuderia Materassi
Talbot 700

16 Carlo Tonini
C. Tonini
Bugatti T35C

Campari victorious with Alfa Romeo at Pescara

The 16 starters at the Coppa Acerbo comprised eight Bugattis, three Maseratis, two Alfa Romeos, two Talbots and one Chiribiri. Campari in his 4-year old improved Alfa Romeo P2 led the race unchallenged from start to finish. Materassi with his bored out Talbot could not threaten Campari and had to retire early before taking over the 1500 Talbot from teammate Arcangeli and chasing from seventh position in determined manner to finish in second place. The Bugattis of Tonini, Nuvolari and Saccomani ended up in the next positions while the Bugattis of Varzi, Maglione and Brilli Peri retired. The 1500 Alfa Romeo of Bona/Ramponi finished sixth, ahead of Fagioli and Marano in 1500 Maseratis. The German Simons and Cucinotta in 1500 Bugattis, Platè (Chiribiri) and de Sterlich (Maserati) also retired. The Coppa Abruzzo, a sports car race held the following day on the same circuit, was won by Foresti (Bugatti) and included six of the drivers who had raced in the Coppa Acerbo.

The Automobile Club di Pescara held the 1928 Coppa Acerbo for its fifth running, a race that was an international event with two German entries and which also counted towards the Italian Championship. In 1924 Minister Giacomo Acerbo had named the race in honor of his brother Capitano Tito Acerbo, a decorated war hero, who was killed during the last year of WW I. The same triangular 25.5 km Pescara circuit was used, with the start outside the seaside resort of Pescara, where the road went straight for about one kilometer along the shore. Before the town of Pescara the course made a wide right turn heading inland for about 11 km along a winding road up into the Abruzzi Mountains through the villages of Villa Raspa, Spoltore and Capelle. From here, the road led into the approximately 11 km long Montesilvano downhill straight to the coast at blistering speed where every car could reach its maximum speed. A fast right turn at Montesilvano railroad station led into the Lungo Mare straight along the coast and finally through a chicane to slow the cars just before start and finish.

Entries: The Coppa Acerbo promoters received a total of 29 entries. As in the previous year, the race was again over 20 laps, a total of 510 km and competitors were split into three categories. The largest number of entries, 14, was received in the category up to 1500cc, which comprised five Bugattis, three Maseratis, one Alfa Romeo, one Fiat, a Talbot, a Chiribiri, a Camen and a Salmson. Only three of those makes were likely to gain victory: Talbot, Bugatti and Maserati. The favorite amongst them was Scuderia Materassi with their two 1927 grand prix Talbots, 8-cylinders of original 1500 cc for Luigi Arcangeli while the car for Emilio Materassi had its engine bored out slightly, increasing its capacity to 1503 cc, which allowed it to race in the 2-liter category. Both, cars and drivers, were known to be very fast, while the strength of the Bugatti was their proven reliability which was superior to the Maseratis. The Camen was built in Naples by the Esposito brothers with Sirignano money and had a 1036 cc, V-4 supercharged two-stroke engine and independent front suspension. Only two cars were made in 1927/28, driven by Prince Francesco di Sirignano and Guglielmo Esposito at the 1928 Targa Florio and were quite fast over short distances.       The 2000 category was the most interesting and it would be a fierce contest between ten cars of the same three marques, Talbot, Bugatti and Maserati plus a very quick opponent, the Alfa Romeo of Campari. He entered his eight-cylinder, 2-liter Alfa Romeo P2, a 1924/25 grand prix car, which undoubtedly was the fastest car present. Another outstandingly rapid entry was the bored out Talbot of Materassi, already mentioned above. Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, Gastone Brilli Peri, Carlo Tonini and Tommaso Saccomani were all in 2000 Bugattis and each was trying to win the race. An independent 2000 Maserati entry was received from Diego de Sterlich and a similar works car from Ernesto Maserati, plus an old 20S Diatto by Covitti Evangelista.       The category over 2000 cc, comprised five cars, the Diatto Special with a large Hispano Suiza engine, a large Mercedes, two 2300 Bugattis and a large La Salle. A complete list of entries is at the beginning of this report.

Race: On Sunday 8:00 AM the starting area was cleared for the long awaited event when very soon 16 cars appeared to take their positions on the grid, arranged in numerical order. The large cars occupied the front rows followed by the smaller category at the rear. The following drivers did not start: Maraini (Mercedes), Astarita (Diatto), Barbato (Bugatti), Balestrero (La Salle), Evangelistica (Diatto), Stinson (Bugatti), Borzacchini (Maserati), Contessa Einsiedel (Bugatti), De Bernardinis (Fiat), Ciriaci (Bugatti), Ricci (Salmson), Prince de Sirignano (Camen) and Ernesto Maserati (Maserati). Three of these drivers entered the Coppa Abruzzo the next day plus three drivers who had raced in the Coppa Acerbo.

16 Tonini Bugatti 14 Saccomani Bugatti 6 Maglione Bugatti 24 Nuvolari Bugatti 22 Campari Alfa Romeo 20 Varzi Bugatti 28 Arcangeli Talbot ? De Sterlich Maserati 26 Brilli Peri Bugatti 40 Simons Bugatti ? Bona Alfa Romeo 36 Materassi Talbot 56 Marano Maserati ? Cusinotta Bugatti 46 Fagioli Maserati 32 Platè Chiribiri

At 9:00 AM General Francesco De Pinedo lowered the flag and the roaring pack leaped from the grid with loud rumble. The Bugattis of Saccomani and Nuvolari took the immediate lead chased by Campari's fast Alfa Romeo. Simons' white Bugatti remained on the grid with a faulty ignition. The unfortunate driver got out, pushed the car for tens of meters and then the mechanic took over pushing the car, but to no avail. Eventually after 5m50s he was able to start.       Meanwhile the loudspeakers had announced that at Villa Raspa, after the first corner, Campari's car was in front and the grandstand crowd welcomed the news with a long murmur of approval. At Capelle Campari was still in first place, as he was at the grandstands when he completed the first lap in 12m55.8s at 118.451 km/h. After a gap of 15 seconds Brilli Peri appeared, followed by Nuvolari and Materassi 40 seconds later. Varzi who arrived next, had already fallen behind and slowed down to stop at the pits. He was followed by Arcangeli, Bona, Marano, Tonini, De Sterlich and Fagioli. Saccomani was in twelfth place ahead of Maglione and Platè. The German Simons had not been heard of after his late start and probably retired at Capelle, while Letterio Cucinotta also retired somewhere along the way. Varzi had stopped at his pit because the carburetion was faulty and the spark plugs were malfunctioning. Presumably Varzi retired at this time since he was no longer mentioned in any of the reports.       Campari's time for the second lap was 12m32.6s at 121.977 km/h average speed, which would stand as the fastest lap of the race. His lead over Brilli had increased to 48 seconds. Materassi was third, 1m50s behind Campari while Nuvolari who was 2m43s behind the leader, chased after a gap of thirty meters by Tonini, De Sterlich and Saccomani. Bona and Marano who drove in tandem followed next.       Campari's lead increased again on the third lap when Brilli in second place was 58 seconds behind and Materassi followed 1m30s behind in third place. After three laps, Platé, made another stop and retired.       While Campari maintained his domination like a master on lap four, Brilli Peri in second place stopped at his pit, changed three tires and checked the carburetor which was not working properly. His repair lasted longer than expected and when eight opponents passed by his pit, he became concerned. Finally, after eight minutes, he was able to restart.       Meanwhile Campari still held the lead, chased by Materassi and Arcangeli. The latter stopped at the pits with a flat tire and lubrication trouble. On the fifth lap De Sterlich retired at Monte Silvano with a broken oil pipe. After the five retirements the field was down to 11 cars and the leaders in the various categories were: over 2000 cc: Maglione, the only remaining competitor, up to 2000 cc: Campari and up to 1500 cc: Arcangeli. After his pit stop, Brilli Peri was able to overhaul Bona, Marano and Arcangeli for sixth place. At the end of lap five Campari led at 118.871 km/h race average, when the order was: 1. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h04m21.6s 2. Materassi (Talbot) 1h09m49.0s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 1h10m13.2s 4. Tonini (Bugatti) 1h11m14.2s 5. Saccomani (Bugatti) 1h11m33.6s 6. Brilli Peri (Bugatti) 1h13m06.0s 7. Arcangeli (Talbot) 1h13m26.0s 8. Marano (Maserati) 1h13m36.4s 9. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 1h13m55.8s 10. Fagioli (Maserati) 1h18m02.6s 11. Maglione (Bugatti) 1h19m13.0s Campari continued like a man possessed and had predicted before the race that he would neither retire nor would anyone catch up with him. Without a fight he had already beaten both records, the race average speed and the fastest lap. On lap six Materassi again headed for the pits, put water in the radiator and restarted immediately.       On lap seven Materassi stopped once more. The radiator erupted like a volcano. After a quick inspection of the car, the daring Tuscan decided to retire. The car remained at the pit while Materassi gulped down a bottle of beer without showing any regret. Thus, Nuvolari inherited second place followed by Brilli Peri who was now running at a great pace and finished his eighth lap in 12m58.2s at 117.965 km/h average speed.       On lap nine Campari stopped at the pits, filled up with fuel and oil and changed front tires. After four minutes he restarted to the delight of the public in the grandstands. On lap ten Brilli Peri stopped, filled up and joined the race after three minutes. Tonini also refueled really fast and started again after only 1m48s, while Maglione retired with a broken oil pipe. Tonini and Saccomani had a battle in their Bugattis and were only three and a half seconds apart. Nuvolari had lost several minutes in his pit which dropped him to fifth place. At the end of the tenth lap, after 255 km, Campari led at a race average of 112.973 km/h, when the order was: 1. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 2h15m25.8s 2. Brilli Peri (Bugatti) 2h19m33.2s 3. Tonini (Bugatti) 2h22m54.4s 4. Saccomani (Bugatti) 2h22m58.0s 5. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 2h24m21.8s 6. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 2h27m00.0s 7. Arcangeli (Talbot) 2h28m39.6s 8. Fagioli (Maserati) 2h31m06.4s 9. Marano (Maserati) 2h33m31.4s After the twelfth lap Campari stopped to change rear tires. His mechanic was waiting while Campari was washing his face which was black as coal. To the concerned crowd the pit stop seemed endless but Campari was very calm and restarted after 3m45s. Bona with the Alfa Romeo was first in the 1500 category at 104,081 km/h average speed. In the meantime Materassi replaced his teammate Arcangeli in the 1500 Talbot and immediately a dramatic improvement of the Talbot's times was noticeable. Surprisingly Brilli Peri retired with a broken oil pipe after he had pushed his troublesome Bugatti for about one kilometer. By now interest in the race had severely declined, partly due to the eight retirements which had halved the mixed field of 16 cars. Tonini had inherited second place on lap 12 and chased after the unattainable red car of Campari.       On lap 13, Materassi set the fastest lap for the 1500 category by thrashing his Talbot around the course in 13m08.8s at 116.379 km/h average speed. The excessive length of the race started to weigh on everyone with a distance of 180 kilometers still left. When Tonini stopped at his pit, he lost second place to Saccomani. Campari stopped for 2m15s at the pits to add lubricant, while the music played "Giovinezza" (a song, titled "Youth"). On lap 14, a stone thrown from the rear wheel of another car injured Bona's upper lip which needed three stitches. Ramponi quickly took over Bona's Alfa Romeo. Materassi in Arcangeli's Talbot drove at an incredibly fast pace and passed Saccomani for third place. Nuvolari still in fifth position after three pit stops closed the gap to Saccomani. After 15 laps or 382.5 km Campari led with 111.634 km/h race average speed, when the order was: 1. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 3h25m57.0s 2. Tonini (Bugatti) 3h36m30.4s 3. Arcangeli/Materassi (Talbot) 3h37m52.0s 4. Saccomani (Bugatti) 3h39m45.6s 5. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 3h40m08.0s 6. Bona/Ramponi (Alfa Romeo) 3h42m42.0s 7. Fagioli (Maserati) 3h49m17.2s There were no changes on lap 16. Campari stopped at his pit for 2m15s where he received congratulations from S. E. Acerbo and other authorities and made a fast restart. On lap 17 Campari was again in his pit and restarted after a 2m13s stop. In spite of his many stops, he always maintained first place. In marked contrast Materassi was pushing hard and on the second to last lap he passed Tonini to take second place.       After 20 laps, Campari was the first to cross the finish line to frantic cheers from the grandstand crowd. Winner and losers were greeted by loud applause and celebrations. The authorities rushed towards the winner, congratulating him warmly. Campari was even carried in triumph, looking fresh and not at all fatigued.

34 Emilio Materassi
Scuderia Materassi
Talbot 700

36 Tazio Nuvolari
Scuderia Nuvolari
Bugatti T35C

42 Giuseppe Campari
G. Campari
Alfa Romeo 6C-1700MMS

Materassi wins the Coppa Montenero for the fourth time

78 Aimery Blacque-Bélair
A. Blacque-Bélair
Bugatti T35C

61 Ernst Günter von Wentzel
Count E.-G. v. Wentzel-Mosau
Mercedes-Benz SS

Robert Gauthier
R. Gauthier
Bugatti T35

Blacque-Bélair victorious with Bugatti